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Amanda Miller will be the first to admit she hasn’t always…um…let’s say, “lived the healthiest of lifestyles.” For the first half of her 20s, she spent more than her fair share of time waking up with a hangover and working it off by partying again the next night. A good chunk of the second half of her 20s was spent traveling around Australia, New Zealand and Asia, living a similar lifestyle. She never thought she’d be anything of significance in the world. And she’d become…kind of okay with that. “It seemed like, I don’t know, like ’becoming something’ was a…

Local support society helps men dealing with trauma and abuse By: Mike Davies There are many government funded – or subsidized – programs out there that help women who are being abused or dealing with the trauma associated with abuse. And rightly so. But the same cannot be said about services for men, according to the North Island Survivors’ Healing Society, which is trying to change that. The local society has been offering subsidized counselling services for men – without government funding – for 14 years. “Sadly, there are a large number of women who have been abused,” says Janet…

By: Mike Davies John Howard, the son of a wealthy British upholsterer, was captured by French privateers while traveling on a ship called the Hanover way back in the 1700s. He was transferred around to a few prisons before being released and returned to his home country in exchange for a French officer held by his own government at the time. The treatment he received at the hands of the French is widely believed to be the impetus for his life of advocacy. With no true vocation of his own, upon his return to Britain he launched into a life…

Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing is a Japanese concept growing in popularity By Alistair Taylor I’ve always sort of intuitively known about the therapeutic value of being in a forest. Now I know that value has a name and is, in fact, the latest popular trend in health and wellness. It’s known as forest bathing. As a child growing up, I lived most of my life on the doorstep of wilderness. The eastern woodlands of Labrador, the verdant rainforest of Haida Gwaii and the parched freeze-dried, subarctic woods of the Yukon. The forest was always accessible to me, particularly when I…

Local club builds awareness and raises funds for the fight against mental illness By: Mike Davies This year marks the fifth annual running of the Defeat Depression Walk here in Campbell River, which Beacon Club administrator Robyn Ellsworth says is an excellent opportunity to raise both awareness surrounding mental health issues in our community and funds to fight for those who live with these issues every day of their lives. “Mental health is important for everybody,” Ellsworth says. “Whether it’s stress at work or just having a million things on the go in life. But then there are the more…

In the months following hurricane Katrina, Natasha Provost volunteered to travel south and join in the animal relief efforts. At the time she was working as a veterinary assistant. “I got tasked to go help the disaster dogs, which are the dogs, and the cadaver dogs, that go and look for the bodies,” she says. “I got to look after them when they came in. We would scrub them down because there were so many contaminates, and look after them and make sure they were healthy enough to go out again.” It was during that trip that Provost became interested…

Who’s in charge of making sure we’re ready for a disaster? “Jan. 24, 2010,” he says simply. That’s his answer to why he does what he does. That was the day the earthquake hit Port-Au-Prince. Haiti, he tells me, is where his mom was born and raised. He starts rattling off facts about the history of Haiti like it’s his homeland. He pauses for a second, realizing that’s not really what I’m here to talk about. “Sorry,” he says. “I’ve kinda gone off a bit, but I’ve always just had that connection with it. It was just always there in the…

Fire Rescue Since its wartime creation in 1942 as an all-volunteer department with a single, downtown hall, Campbell River Fire Rescue has grown to a staff of nearly 75 members and volunteers through two halls, seven fire/rescue vehicles and a dispatch centre that provides services across North Vancouver Island. The Campbell River Fire Department was organized in 1942 and consisted of a volunteer firefighting force and one fire hall (Hall No. 1) located at 10th Avenue and the Island Highway. The department went professional in 1966 with the hiring of its first full-time fire chief, and two years later, in…

The Canadian Coast Guard is probably best known for its role in marine search and rescue. Coast Guard forces, including those stationed in Campbell River, are called upon as first responders in a variety of other areas, including environmental and security response. In addition to its well-known role in marine search and rescue, the Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for all ship-source oil spills and other pollution incidents in Canadian waters. In cases where the polluter is known and takes actions to mitigate the spill, the Coast Guard assumes the role of Federal Monitoring Officer. When the polluter…

It’s a team of professionals ranging from rookies to seasoned veterans who dedicate themselves to a wide range of policing services. There’s serious crime investigators, street crime officers, forensic investigators, crime prevention/victim services officers, a municipal traffic force, a police dog handler and more. The Campbell River detachment includes 52 RCMP members. There are 25 civilian staff as well, which includes Support Staff, Victim Services Personnel, Restorative Justice, Crime Analyst and Crime Stoppers. Coverage area for the detachment ranges from the Oyster River in the south to halfway between Campbell River and Sayward in the north and Strathcona Park in…